HR service providers are sitting on mountains of data but often lack the right tools to use it at scale. Wenitebuilds the infrastructure that lets HR consultants serve their end clients better. To strengthen its position in the European market, the startup has raised €1.8 million from Imec.iStart and a group of private investors from the HR sector. "We want to become the backbone for European HR service providers looking to scale their business and make it data-driven," says CEO Jasper Dezwaef.
Today, 60% of organisations rely on an HR service provider to support and develop their people. Those providers, think strategic HR consultants and organisational advisors, are sitting on large volumes of data but often don't have the tools to put it to work. Many still rely on Excel, Word or Google Forms to track workplace wellbeing or plan and follow up on coaching trajectories. Insights end up scattered across platforms, and scaling becomes a real challenge.
"At HR service providers, we often see a lack of centralisation and efficiency in tasks like surveys, reporting and keeping track of conversation notes," says Jasper Dezwaef, CEO at Wenite. "Following up on employees, whether through coaching or skills assessments, tends to stay labour-intensive and subjective. That makes it hard to measure the outcome and impact of their work."
White-label toolbox
In 2021, Jasper Dezwaef (CEO), Emiel Cracco (CTO) and Robin Vannieuwenhuijse (CISO) founded Wenite to address exactly that. The platform gives HR consultants the infrastructure to serve their end clients, covering everything from data collection via surveys and CRM to managing client trajectories and AI-driven analysis of employee data. Consultants can also share insights with their clients through dashboards, making it easier to demonstrate impact and offer each end client their own platform.
"We built our software entirely around HR service providers. It's a solution that lets consultants automate their HR services. That resolute focus on HR service providers is what sets us apart. With Wenite, they can create a kind of 'living file' for each client, keeping a close eye on progress and making it easier to offer additional services. That's how you build a long-term client relationship," adds Emiel Cracco, CTO at Wenite.
3 million data points
The Ghent-based startup currently counts around 25 HR consultants among its clients, including BDO, Springbok Coaching and The Moris Company. Together they serve more than 500 end clients, a large share of which are SMEs, across use cases ranging from early burnout detection to psychosocial risk analysis. To date, over 3 million data points have been collected for around 45,000 employees.
A market of 20,000
Wenite is led by 3 Ghent entrepreneurs, 2 of whom hold a doctorate in psychology. CEO Jasper Dezwaef completed his PhD in consumer psychology; CTO Emiel Cracco wrote his thesis on cognitive neuroscience. The trio is rounded out by Robin Vannieuwenhuijse, who serves as CISO. They grew the startup to 7 employees on their own resources. Now, to strengthen their position in the European market, they're raising €1.8 million, of which €1.2 million in equity, from Imec.iStart and a group of private investors from the HR sector.
"With this funding round, we want to reinforce our unique position in Europe. In Belgium and the Netherlands alone there are around 1,000 HR service providers; across Europe, that number reaches 20,000. We're going all-in on commercial scale-up and plan to grow the team in the short term. Our goal is to become the backbone for European HR service providers who want to build a scalable, data-driven business," concludes Jasper Dezwaef.